Columbia Law School Professor George P. Fletcher and Columbia Associate-in-Law Jens David Ohlin’s new book, Defending Humanity: When Force is Justified and Why, will be the focus of a symposium March 31.

James G. Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University, will give the 21st annual Horace S. Manges Lecture on April 1 at Columbia Law School. Neal, who has represented the American library community on copyright issues before Congress and is a member of the U.S. Copyright Office Section 108 Study Group, will discuss the group’s recent work.

Cynthia McFadden ’84, co-anchor of ABC News’ “Nightline” and “Primetime Live” programs, has been selected by students to give the keynote address at Columbia Law School’s graduation ceremony on May 22.

An old oak desk is one of the few large artifacts that remain of Columbia Law School’s early history, and if not for a few alert professors over the years, even this object could have ended up in a landfill.

Hon. Justice Umar Abdullahi, CON, the President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, will discuss the importance of judicial independence in strengthening democracy, the rule of law and the fair dispensation of justice in Nigeria during a visit to Columbia Law School on April 4.

Experts debate how different forms of Christianity and Islam may have helped or sometimes hindered the development of free and open societies. Columbia Law School Professor Philip Hamburger addressed this issue at a symposium hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on March 25.

The long-term success of the United Nation’s global counter-terrorism strategy depends upon the protection of human rights, said experts at a panel discussion held at the Law School’s Jerome Greene Hall on February 28, 2008.

Columbia Law School and the Center for Reproductive Rights (the Center) have announced a new fellowship for law school graduates pursuing legal academic careers in reproductive health and human rights.

Some of the priciest art works on today’s auction block come not from private collectors but museums and educational institutions. Deaccessioning has sparked questions among art experts, lawyers, the courts and the public about the cultural value of possessing an object versus the commercial value of selling it.

Is art worth more as cash than the implied cultural riches of possessing it? Experts from the art and museum world will discuss museum deaccessioning — as part of Columbia Law School’s Intellectual Property Speaker Series on March 11.

Columbia Law School prevailed at the European Law Moot Court regional tournament in Maribor, Slovenia, and will be one of four teams to compete at the final round before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Representing Columbia were students Aravind Ganesh '08, Alexander Lawrence '10, Tomas Samulevicius '08 LL.M. and Sandy Wirtz '09.

Judge Daniel Friedman ’37, whose long and distinguished career flourishes still as a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., has been a major influence on several current Columbia Law School faculty, including Peter Strauss, Kent Greenawalt, and Richard B. Stone. “He’s the best of a disappearing species,” said Stone, who worked with the judge at the Solicitor General’s Office early in his career.

Jessica Lenahan, whose three daughters were killed when local Colorado police did not enforce a restraining order against her former husband, visited Columbia Law School yesterday and talked to students about her experience in the aftermath and the resulting case she brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with the Law School’s help.

Jessica Lenahan, formerly Gonzales, whose three daughters were killed when local police refused to enforce a restraining order against her former husband, today filed the merits brief in her case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The merits brief introduces evidence on the failure of the Colorado authorities to investigate the girls' deaths. Columbia Law School's Human Rights Clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union represent Lenahan.

When Columbia founded its human rights clinic ten years ago, it was one of a few such clinics in the country. Propelled by growing student interest, the number of clinics has grown since then. On March 1, Columbia Law School hosted the Annual Human Rights Clinicians Conference.

Columbia Law School announced the selection of two human rights fellows for 2008. Suzannah Phillips ’08 is this year’s Henkin-Stoffel Fellow, while Jonathan Gant ’08 is this year’s David W. Leebron Human Rights Fellow.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Matthew Waxman stood in a basement bunker beside Vice President Cheney as he debated with President Bush whether to shoot down commercial jets still in the sky. At JFK that morning, as word of the attacks spread, Philip Bobbitt instinctively wanted someone to check the flight manifest so his plane wouldn’t be next. Sarah Cleveland, meanwhile, worried for a friend who had worked in the Trade Center. The repercussions of that day are a focal point of study for Waxman (left), Bobbitt and Cleveland, leaders in the debate over the reach of presidential powers in the war on terror.

Columbia Law School professor Nathaniel Persily has co-edited a new book, Public Opinion and Constitutional Controversy, which takes an innovative approach to measuring how greatly U.S. Supreme Court decisions mold American public opinion.

Theodore M. Shaw, director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), has joined the faculty of Columbia Law School. He will be a professor of professional practice, teaching classes in civil procedure and constitutional law.

For 16 Columbia Law School students, return from Spring Break meant a shift into oral advocacy mode for the second elimination round on March 25 and 27 in the Harlan Fiske Stone Honors Moot Court Competition, the law school’s most prestigious moot court contest.

The works of Columbia Law School Professors John Coffee and Jeffrey Gordon were included on the 2007 list of 10 Best Corporate and Securities Articles, a list compiled each year by the legal journal Corporate Practice Commentator.

As disturbing cases of violence on American college campuses continue to make headlines, Columbia Law School will host a day-long conference on the trend, “Violence on Campus: Prediction, Prevention and Response.” The April 4th event will feature academic experts from law and the social sciences, policy makers and practitioners.

Columbia Law School earned several awards at the 2008 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competitions this month. Columbia sent teams for the first time to both the Vienna and Hong Kong competitions.